


Smile

by equivalencept



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Jester brings joy and chaos with her drawings, Jester is a child in this, implied Cassandra de Rolo/Marion Lavorre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 07:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/equivalencept/pseuds/equivalencept
Summary: The Traveler told Jester to bring joy whenever she goes, and who better to bring it to than to one of her mother's guests, who seems too sad to be in the Lavish Chateau? And Jester just made some funny drawings, too.





	Smile

Jester ran barefoot down the hall to her mother’s room, clutching her most recent drawings in her arms. The Traveler had laughed at her picture of the man who annoyed her mama last night! She had drawn his bald head shining so bright the other people had trouble seeing Mama perform, and they got mad at his shiny head. Then she’d drawn Blude throwing him out because everyone else had seen how bad he was and wanted him gone.

 

She’d heard fairytales of paintings coming to life. Maybe if her drawing was good enough, it’d come true, and the bald man would leave her mama alone?

 

 _Or_. Or she could make more drawings making fun of the bald man, and pass them out tomorrow night! Maybe then everyone would laugh at the bald man, and he’d stop coming!

 

First she had to show Mama, though.

 

Mama’s door was slightly open! She could show her now, since she wasn’t busy with a suitor.

 

“Mama, look what I drew!”

 

She took the door at a run, twirling into the room so that her skirts flew up around her, like the petals of a flower. _Like the morning glory you are_ , her mama had once said. _My morning glory_.

 

Her twirl was cut short, though, when she heard a startled gasp.

 

Coming to an unsteady stop, the first thing she saw was that there was an old woman sitting very close to her mama on the sofa. The second thing she saw was that the woman was clutching in her hand the blunt cheese knife from the platter Mama used to entertain guests.

 

Jester dropped her drawings to the floor.

 

“Oh - oh no,” the old woman dropped the cheese knife, letting it clatter to the low table in front of her. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” The woman carefully stood up from the couch. “You st- I was startled, is all.”

 

“Cassandra, my dear - ” Mama said from the sofa, eyes wide. “This is - well,” Mama began but couldn’t finish. Jester moved her feet, ready to spin and run away like Blude had taught her. She didn’t think the woman was scary any more, especially since her mama didn’t seem afraid, but Jester wasn’t supposed to let Mama’s suitors see her! Never ever!

 

The woman was moving towards Jester, but stiffly, like the marionette puppets her mama had given her for her last birthday. Now that she had time to look at her, Jester could see that the woman was not old at all. Her hair had a lot of gray in it, but it was still thick, and she only had a few lines around her eyes and on her forehead. Not wrinkles from smiling, either, like Hanna the Cook. A voice in Jester’s head, that sounded a lot like the Traveler, noted that the woman looked like she could use a laugh.

 

So Jester returned the woman’s strained smile.

 

Coming to a stop in front of her, the woman offered her hand. “I am very sorry to have frightened you, my dear. I am Cassandra de Rolo. What is your name?”

 

Turning quickly from fear to excitement ( _No one had ever offered to shake her hand before! Only adults did that!_ ), Jester shook Cassandra’s hand. “I’m Jester!”

 

Cassandra let go of her hand, and folded her hands in front of her, like the rich ladies who came to see Mama perform. She was wearing a simple button up with a vest and pants, though, not a pretty dress like the ladies wore. “Jester, that’s a lovely name. Did you choose it?” Relaxing more, Jester grinned and nodded. She had chosen it only a month ago. Her mama had thrown a party for her. Blude had been there, and Hanna, and everyone else in the Lavish Chateau, and there had been cake! And it wasn’t even her birthday!

 

“And how old are you, Jester?”

 

“I’m eight!”

 

“Indeed?” The smile Cassandra gave her seemed far more genuine this time. Cassandra might not dress like the rich ladies, but she paid attention to Jester! She didn’t ignore her! Jester wanted to make her smile at her even more now. “I have a niece and nephew that age.”

 

“How old are _you_?”

 

“I am twenty-eight.”

 

“Really?” Jester wrinkled her nose. “You look older than _that_.”

 

“Jester!” Mama exclaimed from where she had stood up from the sofa.

 

But Cassandra just laughed - snorted, really, over her shoulder at Mama, and Jester grinned. “It’s quite fine. You should see my brother,” she said, turning back to Jester, “he had a full head of white hair by the time he turned twenty. Are these drawings yours?” She bent down to pick up the drawings Jester had dropped.

 

“Yes! I wanted to show Mama!”

 

Cassandra handed the drawings back to her. “Why don’t you show her now?”

 

“Oh, no, that’s quite all right - I’m sure it can wait.” Mama said, settling back down on the couch. She was a lot stiffer than normal.

 

“It really is fine. As I said, I have a niece and nephew her age.”

 

By that time, Jester had already ran across the room and threw herself up beside Mama on the couch. She hugged her mama, and got a hug back, but her mama was still tense. Was she worried about Cassandra knowing about her? But she was so nice! Maybe Mama was mad at Jester for being seen? Well, Jester had drawings to cheer her up!

 

“Look, look! I drew the bald man from yesterday!” As Jester explained all her drawings, her mama relaxed a little. She gestured (jestered!) for Cassandra to sit, and she eventually perched on the arm of the couch, about two feet away from Jester and her mama. She seemed tense, too, and Jester still wanted to make her laugh.

 

“Look! See?” Jester said, turning to Cassandra and pulling on her loose shirttails. “Here’s Blude throwing the bald man out of our house!”

 

“I see that,” Cassandra said, smiling. Her smile seemed more and more natural every time Jester saw it. “You have a very good concept of - no, wait. Hmm, I love the colors you use. They are very bright and cheerful.” Jester grinned and swung her legs excitedly. Normally only her mama or Blude cared about her drawings! “And who’s this?” Cassandra asked, pointing to a picture of a green-cloaked person.

 

Jester gasped. “That’s the Traveler! Have you not heard of him?”

 

Cassandra hummed. “I do not believe I have, no. Is he a traveling performer, or some such person?”

 

“He’s a god! He’s very powerful, y’know. Why don’t you know about him?” Her mama had just started to relax, but with her arms still around her, Jester noticed when she tensed up again. Why wouldn’t her mama want her to talk about the Traveler? “Wait, are you from the Empire? Are you going to ban him?” Jester asked, scrunching up her nose.

 

Cassandra blinked at the rapid questions. “The Dwendalian Empire? Gods, no. No, I _dislike_ Bertrand Dwendal. He’s a - well, nevermind. And I certainly won’t ban the worship of any deities, not without due cause. And not in this city. I have no authority here.”

 

“I don’t think the Traveler is very well known, my little sapphire. I had not heard of him until you told me about him,” Mama said, brushing Jester’s hair back behind her ear. “And Lady Cassandra here isn’t from the Empire, but she _is_ a very important noblewoman. _So be polite_ ,” she added in Infernal before switching back to Common. “She is the ruler of an entire city-state.”

 

“ _Really?_ ” Jester asked, eyes wide. “Are you a queen? Do you have a court?”

 

Cassandra laughed, and Jester grinned. She was smiling and laughing more as their talking went on, so Jester felt like she was doing a _preeetty_ good job of bringing joy, like the Traveler told her to.

 

“No, I am not a queen,” Cassandra said. “Whitestone - well, I won’t bore you with the details of the hierarchy of my city, but my royal rank is simply ‘Lady.’ But functionally, I guess you could say I am a queen. And I have a council who help me to rule, who I guess you could say are like my court.”

 

“Do you have a jester in your court?” Jester asked, bouncing on the couch.

 

“I do not, unfortunately, unless you count a third of the people I work with. Though _you_ would be a delight in our council.”

 

“ _Ooh_ , oh oh! Are your niece and nephew royalty, too? Are they here? Can I meet them? They would have to come here, I can’t leave. I don’t have many friends, but, _ooh_ , it would be the _best_ to be friends with royalty!”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry my dear.” The smile was gone from Cassandra’s face. She studied her with eyes that were suddenly sad. And Jester had been doing such a good job at making her laugh! “My family and I live across the ocean, in Tal’Dorei, and very far to the north, too. I’m only here in Nicodranas for a very short time, and my niece and nephew are still in Whitestone.”

 

“Oh,” Jester said. She had been so excited at the chance of meeting a friend her age, but of course it was too good to be true. “No, it’s okay! I have friends! I have Blude, and the Traveler is my best friend ever!”

 

The Traveler was  _the best_ , he was _amazing_ , and of course he was enough, and Jester wouldn’t say otherwise, but sometimes she thought it would be nice to have other friends, maybe.

 

Jester was pulled out of her thoughts by a hand gently grasping hers.

 

“When I was your age,” Cassandra began, and she was smiling again. But it seemed a little sad, and Jester didn’t know why. Cassandra continued, “I didn’t have many friends either. I didn’t have any real friends until I was almost twenty. And I didn’t leave my city under my own will until I was twenty-one. I wasn’t able to travel as I’ve always wanted until quite recently.” She squeezed Jester’s hands. “So believe me when I say, you will have friends. _Good friends_ , the best of friends. You are very funny, and sweet, and a very talented artist. People will be lucky to have you as a friend. You might just have to wait a little while, and I’m sorry about that. But it will happen, okay? Who knows, you might even travel the world with them.”

 

Jester didn’t want to wait, though!

 

 _She is right, Jester. We will have more friends. Just be patient_ , the Traveler’s voice said softly in her head. _In the meantime, there is much chaos you can bring here, yes?_ And Jester’s eyes caught on her picture that made fun of the bald man.

 

“Okay!” Jester said, both to the Traveler and to Cassandra. She squeezed Cassandra’s hands back, before letting go and reaching for her drawings.

 

Mama brushed Jester’s hair out of her face again, before helping her pick up her scattered pictures. “These are wonderful, my little sapphire, and I’d love to see more later. But you should go to bed now, okay? I will stop by to see you later. Please close the door behind you on your way out.”

 

“Okay, Mama,” Jester said, giving her a hug before taking her drawings. She frowned, a little. Her mama was still tense.

 

“It was nice meeting you, Jester,” Cassandra said as Jester turned to go.

 

“You, too!” Jester twirled again, hoping to make Cassandra smile one last time, and seeing that she had, skipped out the door.

 

She closed the door behind her, as her mama had asked, before running into the room next door. She pressed her ear to the part of the wall that had been left purposefully thin for eavesdropping, and caught Cassandra saying something.

 

“ - a delight. You should be very proud to have her as a daughter.”

 

“Yes, I am. I love her, very much so.” Jester smiled. _I love you too, Mama_ , she mouthed silently. “I am very - I am deeply protective of her, as you might have been able to tell. Most people in Nicodranas do not know about her.” Jester squirmed at the reminder that she had been seen by someone, but something in what her mama said also make her uncomfortable. She didn’t recognize her tone, but it reminded her somehow of the housecat when a stranger came too close to her kittens.

 

“Listen, Marion, I - as I said, I have a family, too. A family with some very young members. I know what it’s like to have them threatened. I promise you, on my life, I will not tell anyone about Jester.”

 

There was a pause, and then her mama said, relieved, “Thank you.” As the conversation went on, Jester could tell that her mother had finally relaxed. And she was working hard on getting Cassandra to relax, too.

 

Jester skipped away, sure that her mama could make Cassandra happy. But right now, Jester had to make more drawings mocking the bald man, if she wanted enough to pass out tomorrow!

  


**Author's Note:**

> The party for Jester's new name was thought of by kimabutch on tumblr: http://kimabutch.tumblr.com/post/182424349919/we-know-that-jester-chose-her-own-name-and-that


End file.
